Assessing Listening Comprehension Skills in Indonesian Islamic Higher Education EFL Classrooms: Current Practices, Challenges and Solutions

Authors

  • Muhammad Nur Akbar Rasyid Universitas Islam Negeri Alauddin Makassar, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2951-9183
  • Masykur Rauf UIN Alauddin Makassar, Indonesia
  • Syahruni Junaid UIN Alauddin Makassar, Indonesia
  • Serliah Nur UIN Alauddin Makassar, Indonesia
  • Helmi Syukur UIN Alauddin Makassar, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24256/itj.v5i2.4187

Keywords:

Challenges, EFL classrooms, listening comprehension, listening assessment, practices, solutions

Abstract

The present study aims to examine the current practices, constraints, and potential enablers when assessing students' listening skills in Indonesian Islamic higher education EFL classrooms. This study used a qualitative approach with a case study research design. The selection of the participants used purposive sampling. The study used interviews as a data gathering technique, involving six EFL lecturers in one Indonesian Islamic higher education institution in South Sulawesi. The findings show participants’ awareness of the various alternative methods to assess students’ listening skills. However, their discussions tend to focus on what is easiest to use as opposed to what matters most for students’ listening skills. Furthermore, participants’ descriptions of EFL lecturers’ constraints in assessing listening skills encompass various educational aspects, which could be classified into resources and practical constraints. The former includes a lack of representative language laboratories and learning resources for conducting quality listening assessment practices. The latter relates to time constraints, auditory surroundings, and designing and developing listening assessment instruments. Therefore, the participants raised several key strategies to enhance quality listening assessment practices, ranging from resources to practical strategies. This includes a high quality and sufficient quantity of educational resources, the use of diverse and authentic assessment tasks, and more collaborative work to share best practices and experience in conducting quality listening assessment practices. These findings imply the need for reformulation of existing practices and policies related to foreign language assessment that could have significant impacts on EFL students, teachers, and classrooms.

Author Biographies

Muhammad Nur Akbar Rasyid, Universitas Islam Negeri Alauddin Makassar

Muhammad Nur Akbar Rasyid obtained his master degree (M.Ed.) in Educational Research Evaluation and Assessment from the Flinders University of South Australia in 2007. He started his doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in 2010 also from the Flinders University of South Australia majoring in Educational Research Evaluation and Assessment and finished in 2014. He is currently a senior lecturer at the faculty of Adab and Humanities. In addition, he also serves as the Deputy Dean of Student and Collaboration Affairs at the faculty of Adab and Humanities of Alauddin State Islamic University of Makassar, Indonesia. Muhammad Nur Akbar Rasyid has published a number of research papers and participated in several national and international conferences. His area of interest is in the field of language testing and assessment, educational research, evaluation and assessment, quality assurance in higher education, program evaluation, Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), curriculum and material development, and education management in higher education.

Masykur Rauf, UIN Alauddin Makassar

Masykur Rauf is a lecturer at English Education Department, of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training Faculty at Alauddin State Islamic University of Makassar (UINAM), Indonesia. He obtained a Magister of Education (M.Pd.) from State University of Makassar (UNM). He had taught at the university since 2010. Masykur Rauf has published research papers in the national refutable journal and he also participated in many national and international conferences.

Serliah Nur, UIN Alauddin Makassar

serliah Nur is  a Senior lecturer at English Education Dept. UIN Alauddin Makassar. has published books and researches both in national and international scopes independently or in collaborations that focusing on some area of studies

Helmi Syukur, UIN Alauddin Makassar

Helmi is a lecturer at English Literature Departement, Adab and Humanity Faculty, Universitas Islam Negeri  (State Islamic University) Alauddin makassar, Indonesia. She study Linguistic at Doctor  program of Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia.. Before pursuing her doctoral degree, she got her Master of Education (M.Ed)  from  Makassar State University, Indonesia.  She had taught at the university since 2015. Helmi has published a lot of research papers in the national refutable journal and participated in many national and international conferences. Helmi`s research interest is in the field of Education in general, Linguistics, Curriculum and material development, English teaching and learning, language learning strategies,.

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Published

2023-11-24

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2023): Indonesian TESOL Journal (October)

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